Portland MAX Line Expansion to Milwaukie

When I moved to Portland in 1992 to go to college, I fell in love with the city. Portland has so many things going for it – great neighborhoods, friendly people, and a desire for a better quality of life. One of the big things that stood out was the MAX line and the commitment to urban planning.

All these years later and the commitment is still strong. Case in point, the light-rail expansion from downtown to Milwaukie. This new leg of the MAX will create the first new crossing over the Willamette since 1973 and serve the South Waterfront, OMSI, and the brooklyn, Eastmoreland and Sellwood neighborhoods.

According to Oregonlive.com, this new line will also:

* Silence noise from freight train horns that torments residents. The MAX line will include gates at major street crossings that should persuade federal authorities to stop requiring freight trains to sound horns. It also should exempt MAX from blowing horns.

* Provide safer, more direct bicycle and pedestrian access to area amenities. Cleveland High School, the Fred Meyer headquarters and the Springwater Corridor would be easier to reach.

* Prompt redevelopment of underused industrial sites. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry plans a southern expansion facing a new MAX station. A station near Southeast Clinton Street could link the Division Street retail corridor to the Powell Boulevard area to the south.

Click here to see a map and video tour of the new MAX line.

New York, Paris, London, Tokyo – all of these world-class cities have urban transportation systems that make it easy to get around. Portland is nor far behind.